Isn't it wierd how people act like they are not in public on the freeway?

Not always, but poping out a camera on occasion prompts drivers to behave better.

Once some hothead gave me the birdie on the last twenty yards on an entrance ramp - might have killed two seconds of his time!!!! A few miles down the tollway, I snuck up on him and did the "Smile You're on Candid Camera" routine. He was on much better behavior.

 

Good advice.

 

If the person in front of me is going too slow for me, I don't bother getting upset, I just go by them whether it's allowed or not. That pisses them off more than me being rude to them.

 

I do strive to be a courteous hybrid driver, but please remember that the speed limit in the carpool lane (and all others!) is 65. I'll push it to 69 if that's the going rate... or I'll get out of the carpool lane (and move to the RIGHT lanes) if, and only if, the regular lanes aren't clogged up. I do have a legal right to be in the carpool lane, and no one should be able to force me to drive illegally... and be obnoxious about it if I don't comply.

In this incident, I was moving with the flow at 66. My following distance did vary from one car length (during a brief period of crawling!) to maybe 12 car lengths as I was making a minor effort at driving with the load. This usually isn't a problem when you have a good lead on the cars in your mirror... or if the car in your mirror is another hybrid... at least until THIS trip!

As I said, this is the first incident of its kind since I took delivery of my HCHII in early April. I thought this was going to be a constant problem. I can live with it a couple of times a year!

 

Don't be so sure about that. Before I got my HCH, I was driving in an unfamiliar part of town, and pulled into a loading zone at this one building, that was just off the main road. Well, I didn't see the sign that said that it was a one way at the building, so even though the parking area was literally 3 feet off the main road, I was supposed to go around the whole building. Well, my mistake, and I think an honest mistake. So when I pulled in, I 'cut off' a lady coming the correct way. When I say 'cut off' it's in quotes because she was going 10 mph and was a good 25 feet from me...no where CLOSE to an accident. She parked two spots over from me (there were plenty of spots, so that wasn't an issue). When I got out, I apologized for my idiotic move, and moved on. She screamed "Yeah, you better be sorry &^$(#!" I was taken aback. I said "I didn't see you, I'm sorry." After more profanity, I just said "sorry, people make mistakes, get over it" at left. She was absolutely livid, and I have no idea why. It's not like I smashed into her, or even came close to it, I apologized immediately, and all I got back was every profane insult you could imagine.

Freaky, really.

 

There is nothing you can do to appease someone who desperately wants to get into an altercation. I think that some people, for whatever psychological reason, feel that someone's mistake is an opportunity to "put them in their place" in order to inflate one's own sense of importance. It's the same as a playground bully but twice as sad since the behavior is coming from an adult.

 

Part of the problem is over the years drivers have been allowed to get away with a little more and more. People went 5 over the limit, then 10, then 15....then they behave as though they make the law. Kind of sounds like the old Wild West. There simply needs to be more enforcement. Some don't like the idea, but more videocams taking pictures of speeders would help.

Wouldn't you love for that woman that verbally abused JordanCS to have been videotaped by the people that know her? I'd bet a lot of people in her position would never have snapped if they thought everyone would find out she behaves like that.

 

I agree rude agrressive drivers do make for road safety issues. However, I also believe that slow drivers who habitually drive below the speed limit, or like to ride the left lane (for no reason) are just a much of a safety issue. These slow driving habits create unnecessary traffic bottlenecks and make rude drivers out of normally sane people.

Disclaimer: Acceptable conditions for driving under the limit would have to be safety related (hauling heavy loads, temp tire, disabled vechile, etc.).

 

Gobbles, I agree - nobody should feel like they can go under the posted limit and stack up traffic. A couple of times I've been pinned by such drivers, and got them mad when I resorted to passing the double line to get by them.

 

Not to be too sarcastic, but do you hear yourselves? Griping, specifically, about people who drive 'below the limit.' Well, guess what? In your own words: it's a LIMIT. As in, 'maximum speed allowed by law.' Maximum. Not minimum. The maximum according to law.

Now, I'm not going to attack you for speeding or go on about the safety, legal and practical reasons why people who speed shouldn't. I'm just going to say that, at the very least, people who DON'T speed are following the law. We don't 'feel like we can go under the posted limit,' we don't need 'acceptable conditions for driving under the limit,' and we don't have to justify doing it to anyone. We're following the law. And no disrespectful comments or rude tailgating should be able to force people to break the law, even if 'everyone else is doing it' (how middle school are we, anyway?).

Listen, I'm sorry if I sound annoyed, but I guess I am. Breaking traffic laws is not a victimless crime, and public condemnation of the people who actually work hard to FOLLOW the laws seems monumentally unfair, shortsighted, arrgh.... this is turning into a rant and I should probably just stop typing now. Anyway, you get my point.